Multi-center (2; possibly 3 sites) to determine whether the oral administration of one or more of 3 different doses of bovine type II collagen (CII) given to patients w/2 years or less of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and who are not taking non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), prednisone, or disease modifying anti rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) is superior in efficacy to the NSAID Celebrex (celecoxib).